Hindus celebrate Janmashtami

Mumbai/Mathura:Hundreds of Hindu devotees on Friday celebrated Gokulashtami ,also known as Janmashtami, the birth day of Lord Krishna. They also participated in ‘Dahi Handi’, which was staged
to the tunes of famous jingle ‘Govinda Aalare Aala’ in Mumbai. The ritual of Dahi Handi involves youth forming a human pyramid and breaking an earthen pot that
contains curd. As per Hindu mythology, as a child, Lord Krishna used to steal
butter from earthen pots, which were tied and suspended at an unreachable height.
In Mathura , the Janmashtami festival was also celebrated with aplomb. Mathura
is Lord Krishna’s birthplace. People turned up in huge numbers to pay obeisance
to Lord Krishna at the temples and celebrated the occasion with festivities. Devotees
were heard chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Rama. Janmashtami is celebrated to commemorate
the birth of Lord Krishna who is regarded as the eighth incarnation of Hindu deity
Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe. According to Hindu mythology, it is believed
that Krishna was born at midnight on this day. Janmashtami is observed on the
Ashtami Tithi, the eighth day of the month of Bhadrapada in the Hindu almanac.
Lord Krishna is believed to have come to the earth to destroy an evil king called
Kansa, who was his maternal uncle, and ruled some parts of northern India , with
Mathura as his capital. Lord Krishna, however, is revered more for the Bhagwad
Gita, the Hindu scripture, the Song of Celestial Bliss, that he is believed to
have delivered to the Pandav Prince Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra,
as depicted in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.